A Brother's Role Reversed
by AzuraTheGreatSage
Summary: In this AU of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Marcassin and Swaine (Gascon)'s stories are switched in a twist of fate. What happens when Marcassin is the runaway theif, and Gascon the emperor of Hamelin? Note: In this AU, Gascon is a Great Sage, not Marcassin. Also, they both still lose the same piece of heart they normally do.
1. Prologue- Porcine Vagabond

After barely scraping by the Earth Ogrr they fought, the princes were exhausted. Gascon had some pretty bad bruises from getting pummeled, and Marcassin's staff almost broke from him trying to use it for blocking the Earth Ogrr's relentless punches. They were both breathing heavily from the exhausting training.

The two princes were heading back towards Hamelin to their father. Marcassin was anxious about going home sometimes. Seeing the thone and emperor status his father had reminded him that he, too, would be emperor one day. Even though his brother, Gascon, was older, Marcassin was to be emperor because he was gifted with magic. He was a prodigy and destined to be a Great Sage, or so his father said. Only a Great Sage could be an emperor of Hamelin, so being the heir came naturally for Marcassin. Marcassin always worried about if he would be a good emperor or not, believing Gascon was the better choice. He thought he didn't really deserve emperor status, or to be the one with magical talent. The thought of it all, it was too much for young Marcassin. So, he made a plan. A plan to run away

. As the two were getting closer to Hamelin, Marcassin saw this as a chance to engage his plan. He turned to Gascon and inhaled deeply. "G-Gascon, I... I'm leaving." Gascon looked at him weirdly, as if he had grown another head. "Leaving? Of course we're leaving, you dunce! Do you think we're just gonna camp out here or something?" "No. I mean I'm leaving... leaving Hamelin. F-forever," Marcassin said. He was unsure of himself. Did he really want to do this? He fumbled with his staff nervously.

"Did I hear you correctly? Leaving Hamelin? What, did that Ogrr beat your brains out or something?" Gascon questioned. "C'mon Marcassin, or else father might give us an earful," Gascon said as he winced slightly, remembering the last time that happened. Marcassin stood his ground. "I'm serious, Gascon." Gascon stared at him in disbelief. "Wha- Are you out of your bloody mind?!"

"I mean it, Gascon! It's... it's too much. I-i don't want to go back! The pressure of becoming a future emperor... having to live up to the name 'Great Sage'... e-everything! You deserve the title, not me..." Marcassin raised his voice slightly, something he didn't do often, as he was very softspoken. Gascon was taken aback, but was at the same time enraged at his younger brother.

"Well, I'm sorry I was born without magic! Seriously, you should be happy you are. Because unlike me, father actually gives half a damn about you!" Gascon lashed out. "You don't even know how much I'd give to be live like you, to be important, to not be hidden in the shadow of my superiors! You get life handed to you on a silver platter, while I get the leftovers!" By then, Marcassin was looking down at the ground, shoulders slumped, tears silently pouring down his face.

"You don't understand, Gascon! You don't e-even know what I feel all the time! You don't know the amount of w-worrying, stress, and everything I have to go through all because I feel like I don't live up to my future titles! You... c-can't even begin to understand... What I..." Marcassin attempted to choke out through his now violent sobbing, and buryed his face in his hands. Gascon noticed and looked at his brother in horror.

"Marcassin... oh god Marcassin, I didn't really mean-" Gascon was cut off by Marcassin pushing him away. It wasn't that effective, but any way of getting Gascon away worked for Marcassin. "Get away from me!" Gascon inhaled sharply in shock. "If-if you really h-hated me that much, you could've told me.." Marcassin felt betrayed, stabbed in the back. Did his own brother really hate him that much?

"No no, Marcassin, I don't hate you, I just-" Once again, Gascon was cut off. "W-well, it doesn't matter. I'm leaving. I... I hope you're happy." Marcassin glanced at his brother one last time, and ran off into the world.

Gascon put his hand on his face. "Stupid, stupid, STUPID! Why Gascon, why do you screw everything up?!" Gascon said to himself. Gascon let out a long, frustrated sigh. "How are you going to explain this to father..."

Inside of the Hamelin throneroom...

The Emperor's steely eyes gazed down on his son. "Gascon. I see you've returned. Where's Marcassin?" Gascon gulped. "Marcassin... he.. ran away. Said he was too under pressure. I tried to convince him to stay, but.." Gascon couldn't bring himself to finish. He felt too guilty, as he felt he was why Marcassin left. Gascon's father looked at him in disbelief.

"So you say? I guess it is not a complete loss, as Marcassin is learning the Hamelin way at a young age. However, if Marcassin is gone..." The Emperor looked away, then back at Gascon. "Gascon, it is about time I taught you magic."

Now it was Gascon's turn to be in pure disbelief. "But how can I learn magic?! You said it yourself, I don't have a magical bone in my body. This won't ever work," Gascon said. "It is true that there is no guarantee for success," The Emperor said, "but it is our best chance. Finding Marcassin will be nearly impossible, and I do not have the time to get more children. Plus, the Hamelin way is to solve problems you bring upon yourself, is it not? This will be a sufficient way for you to learn in both the Hamelin way and magic."Gascon sighed.

"Fine. As crazy as it sounds, I'll do it." Gascon's father cracked a slight smile and patted his sons' shoulder. "Good. Now, let's get started."

Years later. (still counts as a prologue if there's sme future stuff, right? oh, and Marcassin is an adult rn)

Marcassin had heard rumors of it, but hadn't believed it to be true. They said that his father was killed, and Gascon ascended the throne. He couldn't believe it. There's no way that his father was killed, at least not by an ordinary person. Marcassin had also heard of this evil called Shadar, so could they been the one who did it? Well, assuming that even happened, anyways.

Marcassin was wandering aimlessly around the land, a common occurrence for him after he ran away. He didn't bring any money on his journey, so he was dirt poor. Occasionally, he'd find just enough guilders on the ground to rent a room in the Cat's Cradle. Despite his not so ideal departure, he still loved his brother and father.

While on his trek, he finds an old newspaper. Interested, he looks at it. What he saw on the front page was his worst nightmare.

It was true. The rumors were true. And Marcassin was right. His father was killed by Shadar. Marcassin's eyes widened as he tried to process everything. His father was dead, and he died knowing his own son abandoned him. Guilt. Marcassin threw the newspaper on the ground. He sat down and started sobbing. He couldn't believe it, he didn't want to believe it

. "Father, n-no! Why Shadar, why.. Why did you... NO!" Marcassin screamed in anguish, remembering his father. If only he was there, maybe, maybe he could've saved his father. Maybe he could've prevented it from happening. Even if he couldn't, he felt he should've at least been there to see his father in his final moments. But no. He chose to flee, put his tail between his legs when it was too difficult.

'Some son I am...' Marcassin thought.


	2. 1- A Heart Undone

(Marcassin is now an adult as is Gascon in this story now, both at their canon ages which are apparently 24 and 34 according to wiki.)

Marcassin wandered aimlessly across the terrain of Autumnia. He had escaped from Hamelin long ago, but soon realized he had nowhere else to go. Marcassin almost regretted leaving, and wished he could have kept his mouth shut. He had to constantly remind himself that he made the right choice. But did he? Hell if he knew.

Suddenly, near the edge of Autumnia leading to the sea, a boat happened to stop there. Marcassin saw this as a chance, a chance to go somewhere away from Hamelin, a way to escape those bitter memories from long ago.

The blue haired former-prince ran over to the boat, waving his arms and shouting. "Hey! O-over here, please!" Marcassin shouted. Even after leaving the Hamelin royal family, his politeness would suggest otherwise.

The sailor glanced at Marcassin and got off her boat to talk to him. "Eh? Whaddya you want, boy?" the sailor asked roughly. 'What's her problem?' Marcassin thought. He cleared his throat. "Um, excuse me, but I was hoping if I could go on your boat? I, um, have family back in... Al Mamoon?" Marcassin lied, using the first place that came to mind. He hadn't been the most keen at geography, so he tried his best.

The sailor stared at him for a moment, then narrowed her eyes. "We don't take passengers, kid. Now scram." "K-kid?! I'll have you know that I'm-" he stopped himself before he said too much.

The sailor looked intrigued, and spoke again. "Hmm? Who are you, now? Go on." Marcassin looked to the ground. "Well I.. um.. I'm..." "Here, I'll make you a deal. Tell me just WHO you are, and maybe I'll sail you to Al Mamoon to see your 'family'. Deal?" the sailor bargained. Marcassin took a deep breath.

"Fine. I'm... the prince- well, former prince- of Hamelin, Marcassin," Marcassin said. A wall of silence lingered for a few seconds, but was broken by the sailor, who was cry-laughing.

"Pfff-BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Do you really- HAHAHAHAHAA!" Marcassin flinched slightly at the sheer force of the sailor's laugh. She was almost doubled over, and practically in tears. It took the sailor about a minute to regain composure.

"Ohhh, kid, my god. You're too much," she said, "But really, you know just as much as I do. Prince Marcassin is DEAD, kiddo. Dead. Donzo. Finished." Marcassin's eyes widened. Did everyone actually think he was dead?! ...Did Gascon tell them that?! "W-what...? Really?" The sailor nodded, a slight sadness in her eyes.

"Yep. Poor lad, he was. Really was too young. And Gascon! His whole family was pretty much dead! Not sure how the man coped." Marcassin simply nodded in agreement. "What happened to fa- I mean, the Emperor?" Marcassin already knew what was of his father, he was just hoping that the sailor had more insight on the late emperor's fate.

"Oh, him? I heard he got killed by Shadar. Shadar's a pretty bad fellow, he's causing chaos wherever he goes. Glad someone's finally stepping up to stop him." Marcassin perked up as he heard that. "Really? Who?"

"Some kid named Oliver. Not sure how a pipsqueak like him is gonna do anything though. He looks like he's not much older than 10!" She said. "Anyways, king of off-topic questions, back to the point. I'm not letting you on my ship. Now back off."

"But-but please! I need to go.. I need to leave ths wretched place! It.. it holds memories I'd rather forget..." Marcassin pleaded. The sailor sighed, resting her hand on her hip. "Look buddy, you're persistent. I'll give you that. But... *sigh*... Fine. Hop in." Marcassin's eyes lit up slightly as he heard her approval.

"Y-you mean it?!" "If it will stop your annoying whining, then sure," She said. Then, she grabbed him by the wrist and lead him on the boat. "Boys, we got a guest! Don't bother him unless you want to hear him blabber his mouth off." Marcassin glared at her in annoyance, then sighed.

Marcassin laid in an old hammock, trying desperately to relax. He couldn't, however, because the racing thoughts in his head. What has become of Hamelin? Who is Shadar, and why did he kill the emperor? Is Gascon okay? His train of thought was interrupted by a cloaked figure that he saw in the corner of his eye. Marcassin jumped and grabbed his staff.

"Who... Who are you?" Marcassin asked. The cloaked man chuckled darkly. "You do not know who I am? I'm surprised. I thought you would've known, considering what I've done to your father.." Marcassin gasped. "Shadar..." he said quietly. Again, the cloaked figure, now known as Shadar, chuckled.

"You are correct.. Prince Marcassin. It is I, Shadar," he said. There was a sort of eerie calm to his voice, the kind that made your skin crawl in fear. Marcassin's expression turned into a look of pure rage. "Why did you do it? Why did you kill my father?!" he gripped his staff tighter, like it could fall out of his hands at any second. "That is for me to know, and for you to find out." As Shadar was about to leave, Marcassin stopped him.

"No! You have to answer me! You can't just leave me like this!" Marcassin shouted, trying to finally get answers about his father's death. Shadar stopped for a moment.

"You are right, Marcassin. I shouldn't just leave you like this. That's why I..." Shadar traced a sinister rune in the air, the spell glowing purple. "Take Heart!" Shadar shouted.

A look of worry and regret washed over Marcassin's face. Suddenly, he felt a pain in his chest and gripped his heart. His belief has been taken. "W-what did you...?!"

"Now, this will be your fate.. brokenhearted and forever lost at sea!" Shadar said. "You mean, you..?" Marcassin tried to ask, but his voice faltered. As if he knew what Marcassin was going to ask, he replied, "Yes, I have dealt with the ship's crew. You will perish here. This is how your story ends!" Then, Shadar disappeared into thin air.

Marcassin stood there, still in shock. It took him a while to let it sink in.

_'Everyone on this ship is dead. I will die here too.' _

Marcassin had to see it to believe it. He got up to the deck of the ship, and he saw it. The whole crew was deceased, all dead from Shadar's foul magic. Marcassin couldn't take the awful sight, and went back down to his place in the ship. 'So, this is it...' Marcassin thought. He looked down to the floor and mumbled, "I'm sorry, Gascon."


	3. 2- A Dream, A Hope?

Marcassin laid in the ship, expecting to die. He thought that there was no hope left after seeing the massacre that happened earlier. Waiting, waiting. Minutes turned to hours, agonising hours. Marcassin was annoyed, saying to himself, "Hasn't the world tormented me enough?! Just let me die already!" The hours crawled on, as did the ship, as it refused to sink. Marcassin's waiting was stopped by the clutches of sleep.

~dream~ (A/N): Marcassin and Gascon will always be younger in their dreams, unless i say otherwise.

"Look, Gascon! It's a golden Tin-Man!" Marcassin said in amazement. Gold colored familiars were extremely rare, and it was his first time seeing one.

Gascon was equally in awe of the golden robot. "Nice! Just look at its' shine!" Marcassin looked over to his brother, grinning brightly. "What should we do, Gascon?" Gascon, this time, shook his head. "Nothing. We're not familiar tamers, are we? Besides, you have Joules already." Marcassin frowned, which prompted Gascon to put a reassuring hand on Marcassin's shoulder.

"And also... you can't die yet. People need you. I need you. You must survive." Marcassin felt himself growing older, into his current age. He saw that the same had happened to Gascon too. Gascon appeared to be in some royal garb, with designs he thought were familiar.

"Don't give up yet. Much awaits you." Marcassin stared at him in disbelief. "But it's hopeless! How am I going to survive out there, in the stormy waters? How do you even expect me to.." his voice had trailed off. Gascon looked back with stone-sturdy certainty.

"That is you must survive. Perishing here would be, as I would say if I was younger, 'the stupidest thing you've done yet'. I will guide you. Don't worry." Gascon lifted up his Imperial Scepter as all seemed to fade into radiant white.

Even Gascon was slowly being enveloped in it, in the glow of the spell he cast. Marcassin reached out for him, wanting answers. "Wait, Gascon! Don't leave, please!" Gascon turned his head to face Marcassin and smiled. "Don't worry. We will meet again...

Very soon.."

Then, everything was consumed by white, Marcassin included.

...

Marcassin woke abruptly, strangely energized. He had to look at himself for a moment to assure himself he wasn't dead, and even then he thought he was. Marcassin paced up the ship and onto the deck, where he could see that it was strangely clean of all the bloodshed it initially had.

"Must've been the rain, I suppose," he muttered to himself. Another thing he saw is that the ship had peacefully landed at a shoreline that definitely wasn't Autumnia's.

Marcassin shook his head. There's no way this ship, without even an alive sailor, could dock safely and without error. 'Must've been that Gascon in my dreams,' he chuckled. As if.

After contemplating for a while, he decided that he may as well just try to attempt to survive this grueling quest. At least, if he were on the land, they'd have a body to find. Marcassin got off the ship as he searched for the closest civilization. He glanced at Castaway Cove, but judged by the fact that since they're all half-naked they'd probably be of no help. Marcassin then glanced at the next place he could go, Al Mamoon.

He was a long walk away from there, but since at this point he didn't care, he just decided to do it. He brought out Joules, his Relixx, to help him if he ever gets on the bad side of a Sunshine or another creature. The walk was long and sand got in Marcassin's eyes more than he could count, and the sheer heat was unbearable, but he made it. He got to the very entrance of Al Mamoon, and collasped.

Darkness.

Darkness. Darkness.

...Voices?

"...Do you think he's okay?"

"I hope so. He looked so tired, but not dead, hopefully."

"Oi, guys! I think the lad's waking up!"

Marcassin's eyes fluttered awake slowly as he saw three figures standing over him, and one even standing ON him. It looked like two children, and a... fairy?

"Wha... what...?" Marcassin tried to say, but one of the children, a girl, placed a finger on his lips. "Shhh, don't over-exert yourself," she said reassuringly. She then pranced off to the other side of the room and started squealing happily.

"Eeeee! He's even cuter awake!" She giggled like a maniac and started hopping around excitedly. The other child, a young boy, shushed her. "Esther, please! He's just trying to rest." Oh, so that was her name. Esther. The girl, now known as Esther, stopped abruptly and nodded. "Haha, sorry Oliver! I guess I did get a little carried away..."

The fairy hopped off of Marcassin and onto the bed, and sat next to his face. "Ey, mun! Welcome to Al Mamoon. You were at the entrance over by there, and you were proper passed out, like." He said in a hushed voice. The fairy then sniffed him a bit, which made Marcassin flinch slightly. The fairy rubbed its chin.

"Hmm. Ya don't smell like alcohol, though. I thought you got too woozy on some Babana Ale there," The fairy said frankly. Something about the fairy's brutal honesty reminded Marcassin of his brother.

The fairy looked shocked, then embarrassed. He facepalmed. "Oh, how could I flipping forget? I'm sorry mun, I forgot to introduce myself." The fair took a deep breath. "I'm Drippy, Lord High Lord of The Fairies. And these are my accomplices. The weird lass is Esther, and this lad over by there is Oliver." He pointed to Oliver, who was across from the bed, drinking coffee. Drippy saw this and scolded him.

"Oi, Ollie-boy! I told you to only drink coffee when it was absolutely flipping necessary! You're gonna have caffeine on the flipping brain!" Oliver winced and put the cup down.

"S-sorry, Mr. Drippy," he answered. Drippy shook his head and turned back to Marcassin. "So lad, what's your name?" Marcassin tried to think up a fake name, but nothing really came to mind. Eventually, he settled on one that wasn't really the best, but worked. "I'm.. M-Marc."

What could he say? He was thinking on the spot.

Well, however bad it was, Drippy seemed to believe it. "Marc, eh? Well Marc, would you like to join us for now? I'm not sure if ya got anywhere else you can go to, like." Esther seemed to be doing prayer hands as she looked at Marcassin. After not answering for a while, Oliver looked at Marcassin nervously.

"Y-you don't have to if you don't want to," he said, "Mr. Drippy was just asking."

A strange wave of false realization washed over Marcassin as he snapped awake. He jumped out of the bed he was just content with being in a couple seconds ago and picked up his staff. "What am I doing here? What are YOU guys doing?" Marcassin kept waving around his staff at them wildly, and the opposite team got their weapons too.

"Oi, mun! What's gotten into ya?" Drippy asked, bewildered. Oliver looked at Marcassin in confusion of why he had suddenly gotten so violent. "Sir, what's wrong? We were just trying to-"

"Fireball!" A single fireball shot at the group as they barely dodged it. The group realized that the had to fight 'Marc' now, and got into a fighting position.

"What were you trying to do? Kidnap me?" Marcassin asked. His mind was clouded by thoughts of worry as he slowly reached for the door of the room. He prepared another sp5ell to fire at the opposing group.

"Pulse!" Marcassin rushed out the door as the pulse of magic hit the group, causing some damage to both them and the room. They slowly got on their feet and looked out of the door, as if it would bring Marcassin back.

Esther huffed, crossed her arms, and looked away. "Hmph! If I had only knew that handsome guy was a jerkface, I would've left him on the streets!" Oliver shook his head.

"There must've been some sort of misunderstanding..."

Meanwhile, in Hamelin..

Gascon smashed his fist onto the arm of his chair. "No! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Gascon knew about Marcassin running out of that Cat's Cradle in Al Mamoon, and was severely disappointed. He held his face in his hand.

"Marcassin, you idiot... Those people were supposed to help you, to put you on the right track!"

"I knew that. That's why I stopped him."

Gascon turned his head around in the direction of the voice. His eyes narrowed when he saw who it was.

"Shadar..."

Shadar walked up to Gascon, and bowed mockingly. "My lord," he said, and chuckled evily. "I knew that you were guiding Marcassin, that fool. So I used some influence of my own."

Gascon sneered at him, and leaned forward in his seat. "What do you want from me? Haven't you already taken everything else? What could you possibly want now?" Shadar let out another laugh and shook his head.

"Oh, I want something you couldn't give me on your own," he said. Gascon slammed his fist again and stared at him in anger.

"Cut the theatrics and tell me, damn it!"

"There it is. Your quick tempered behavior, which you can't even control. Judging by your actions, it seems that I may not need to take what I need after all." Gascon scoffed.

"Oh yeah? What about it?"

Shadar stepped back a bit. "Since you seem to already have such little restraint, let's see how you and your kingdom will prosper with even less." He started to trace a rune into the air, and Gascon's eyes widened.

"Take Heart!" Shadar shouted. Gascon clutched his chest as an extreme pain racked it. He fell from his chair and onto the ground, on his knees. Shadar cackled.

"Now that you cannot restrain yourself, let's see how you can help Marcassin now." Afterwards, Shadar faded out of the room. Gascon looked back up at where Shadar was and shouted.

"Damn you! DAMN YOU, SHADAR!"

(A/N: Gascon has the power to know what Marcassin is doing, and can project into his dreams. Just so this isn't confusing haha.)


	4. (Probably) Discontinuing this work

Oh boy, where do I even begin...

Ok, so when I first started this book, I was really optimistic about it. I thought "I'm gonna finish this, and the whole world will love it! it'll be my first step into being the best writer ever!"

I was wrong. When I looked over this, reading it again and again, I realized something... It was utterly terrible.

II'm not even saying this for pity. The pacing is bad. The writing felt so... robotic and hand-holdy. The way I worded things was just pure garbage. Like, "a false wave of realization"? What the hell? I don't think that even exists.

And plotholes. Oh boy, plotholes. How does Gascon connect to Marcassin's dreams? How did Gascon becme a Great Sage if he was born without magic? Why didn't Shadar just murder Marcassin on the spot? WHY DOES MARCASSIN SPEND LIKE 600 WORDS ARGUING WITH A PIRATE?! Why did he tell her his true identity, probably knowing that she wouldn't believe him? And also, why did I specify that Swaine is Gascon if pretty much everyone knows that?

Don't get me wrong, I loved writing this, but the low quality of the work was glaring right at me. And I'm never gonna give up on my dream of being an author. But this... just ain't it, chief.

I'm going to keep this up in the chance that I want to continue this story, and for people who want to read this still. If this is ever the case, I will delete this chapter. This, however, probably won't be the case.

I'm deeply sorry to the people who wanted to see the full story, but never got the chance. I plan to work on other fanfictions in the Ni no Kuni fandom, so keep your eyes peeled. There is no clear idea at the moment, but I can tell you it will be about a certain harpist from Al Mamoon...

So, that's that. The premature end of a story. Once again, I'm very sorry to the fans of this fanfic. I appreciate and hope to receive your support, to this story and others.

tl;dr: This story is cancelled for now, and will also be cancelled on AO3 and Wattpad. Thanks all, it's been fun.


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